VItal, but not that vital, pt. 1

Ten Army Reservists are suing the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security. They enlisted under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program because they possess valuable skills sets, but have not shipped out due to concerns about how the program is managed. [Source]

Concerns about the programs surfaced in an Inspector General report from late June, called "Evaluation of Military Services' Compliance with Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest Program Security Reviews and Monitoring Programs." The report is classified, which makes evaluating its problems difficult. [Source]

The program has been around since late in the Bush 43 administration, but according to Fox News, "concern over management of the program has grown over recent months." [Source] I read this to mean that concerns have only popped up since the beginning of the Trump administration.

The conservative-leaning Center for Immigration Studies opposes the MAVNI program, asserting that "It is unnecessary to meet recruiting goals, most aliens would not meet the educational or background standards of our modern fighting forces, and it introduces needless risk into the equation of national defense and security." [Source]

That may be the case, but that's not the newly enlisted reservists' fault. The program was started when there WAS a problem with recruitment, and from what I can tell, the issue is that candidates are enlisted, then expected to support themselves while their clearance is reviewed. It's only been recently that immigrants' applications have come under heightened scrutiny.

So while, yes, the program can be better designed, it seems excessive for Republican Congressman Steve Russell to say -- and for Fox to highlight in its article -- that "The program has been replete with problems, to include foreign infiltration." The Fox source acknowledges that the program has had many success stories, including the 2012 Soldier of the Year, Sgt. Saral Shrestha, who from Nepal. [Source]

Plus, Fox reported that "independent analyses have found MAVNI recruits out-perform non-MAVNI soldiers in critical areas," and admits that "as of yet there is no evidence in the public domain that ISIS, Al Qaeda, or any other terrorist groups have penetrated the MAVNI program." [Source] To the extent we've been infiltrated, we've been infiltrated with some stellar soldiers.

I hope the Department of Defense can find a way to improve and continue the program. As I read about Chinese students willing to join the U.S. Army (Source), I can't help but feel proud that my employer has the same kind of global mindset that I do.

After all, it'd be a loss to the nation's vital interests to shut the door on them, and lock them out.